Barcelona started the new season in LaLiga on Sunday evening with a 4-2 victory. The team of coach Ronald Koeman initially had little trouble with Real Sociedad, which was trailing 3-0 ten minutes before the end. Last season’s number five managed to make it even more exciting. Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong appeared at the starting signal and both were good for an assist in the first half. Barcelona, like Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, thus has three points left on the first day of play and will play out at Athletic Club on Saturday.
Barcelona did not seem to miss Lionel Messi very much in the first half. The Catalans’ play in the first 45 minutes was good and a very active Depay was without a doubt the leading player in the game. los Azulgrana. Barcelona ensured that Real Sociedad’s possession was short-lived and were close to an opening goal twice via Antoine Griezmann. After nineteen minutes of play it was hit. After a far free kick by Depay, Gerard Pique was completely released by the defense of the Basques and was able to easily head the ball behind goalkeeper Álex Remiro: 1-0.
Memphis Depay? Gerard Pique ? ????????! ? The first assist from Memphis is a fact and it is gossamer ?? A tailor-made ball, especially for Piqué who handed in his salary for his arrival! ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BarçaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/uZJ3VBh7F7
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) August 15, 2021
Koeman looked on approvingly as Barcelona, and in particular Depay, looked for a second goal under the watchful eye of just over 20,000 spectators. The attacker shot straight into the hands of Remiro after 24 minutes, who was not surprised by the Dutchman a few minutes later. In the last minute of extra time it was De Jong who introduced the deserved 2-0 of the Catalans. After a wonderful pass from the midfielder from the right towards the far post, Braithwaite headed the ball well and hard behind Remiro.
Barcelona’s 3-0 seemed to appear on the scoreboard just a minute after the interruption, but Griezmann’s goal was rejected due to De Jong’s offside. Not much later Jordi Alba missed a dot of an opportunity. Exactly after a phase in which Real Sociedad moved more around Neto’s goal area, the 3-0 still fell. After a good pass from Depay, a wonderful action by Jordi Alba followed, who saw how Remiro could only make his pass half harmless. The rebound was a prey for Braithwaite.
And there is the second assist of Dutch origin: Frenkie de Jong serves Martin Braithwaite! ?? The Dane heads the cross in perfectly ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BarçaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/zY6Xr1QWMc
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) August 15, 2021
Koeman seized the large lead to give both Sergiño Dest and De Jong a rest and brought Sergi Roberto and the debuting Emerson within the lines. However, Barcelona made it unnecessarily difficult for themselves. A diagonal effort by Julen Lobete made it 3-1 after 82 minutes and three minutes later Mikel Oyarzabal even scored the 3-2 from a beautiful free kick. In between, debutant Eric García and captain Sergio Busquets had made way for Ronald Araújo and Nico.
After the 3-2, Koeman brought in an extra defender with Clément Lenglet instead of Depay. Many supporters feared a fatal outcome like in the beginning and final phase of last season, when Barcelona and especially Lenglet gave away games out of the blue, but it was ultimately Sergi Roberto who made the redeeming 4-2 on Braithwaite’s pass.